Jacob deGrom makes MLB history as Rangers pitcher becomes fastest in modern era to hit 1,700 career strikeouts

deGrom is just the 13th active pitcher to reach that milestone

Texas Rangers ace and two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom on Sunday spun five strong innings in an eventual 8-1 win over the Seattle Mariners (box score), and along the way he notched his 1,700th career strikeout. 

deGrom recorded No. 1,700 in the second inning when he froze Jorge Polanco with a well-placed slider. While that's typically not an attention-grabbing milestone, the haste with which deGrom reached it certainly is. Indeed, deGrom is the fastest in MLB history to reach 1,700 strikeouts. deGrom achieved that lofty total in just a bit more than 1,400 career innings. As well, deGrom is now just the 13th active pitcher to reach 1,700 strikeouts, joining a club that includes Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Gerrit Cole. Overall, deGrom presently ranks 157th all-time in strikeouts.

Sunday's effort gives deGrom a 2.61 ERA (147 ERA+) after seven starts this season. In those 38 innings, he has 36 strikeouts against nine unintentional walks. The 2025 season marks a comeback effort for the decorated right-hander, who turns 37 in June. Since signing a $185 million free-agent contract with Texas prior to the 2023 season, deGrom has struggled to stay healthy, which is nothing new for him. An elbow injury that eventually resulted in his second Tommy John procedure limited deGrom to just nine total starts across the first two years of his Rangers pact. This season, he's no doubt hoping for his first qualifying season since 2019, and getting such a workload from deGrom is all but essential to a Texas team looking to rebound from a disappointing 2024. 

After Sunday's win over the first-place Mariners, deGrom and the Rangers are now 17-18 and in fourth place in the American League West.